


In Only a Moment

by Ninjabunny99



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Batman - Freeform, Dead but not dead, Gen, Grief/Mourning, detective comics 940, i have a lot of feelings about this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-16 03:55:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8086120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninjabunny99/pseuds/Ninjabunny99
Summary: Various characters points of view and reactions to the events of the recent Detective Comics #940. Obviously contains spoilers for that comic.
Now with an epilogue!





	1. Tim

**Author's Note:**

> So I've had a lot of feelings since I read Detective Comics #940, and this is something I banged out at one in the morning this morning. It's unedited and any mistakes are completely mine. Also keep in mind that this is only what I think of it after this comic. The next comic could come out and completely change my thoughts.

_Burning. White hot. Blinding light. Tim felt the world slow down as the drone missiles found their mark, hitting their target as the milliseconds stretched like years. At least he'd said goodbye. At least he saved everyone. At least-_

Light. Different light now. What the heck? The light vanished to be replaced by what appeared to be a room. He could still feel the injuries from the first wave of drones, but any he had to have received from the second wave were gone. He checked his arms, felt over his torso. His suit wasn't even damaged from the second round. Tim didn't understand it, he had felt them hit their mark, felt them rip into his body and burn into his skin.

_Wait, am I dead?_

He expected it, had been prepared for it the moment he set the drone targets to himself, but he had thought the afterlife, if there was an afterlife, would be different. _Or at least pain free_ , he thought, grunting as he shifted his broken leg.

He jerked his head up as a door opened and light poured in through the window of what now appeared to a holding cell of some sort. A figure entered the room, briefly silhouetted in the doorway.

"Mister Drake."

_Uh-oh_ , Tim thought, _this won't be good._

\-------

Tim could tell the conversation was drawing to a close, and all he was sure about was that this man had too many teeth.

"My friends will come!" He shouted at the man as he turned away. The man didn't turn back, closing the door behind him and plunging Tim back into total darkness. He felt towards the wall and slid down, gritting his teeth as his broken bones protested. He could feel at least one bullet still in him. And he had to figure out a way to set his leg. _My friends will come_. They had to, right? They'd know he was still alive and they'd look for him. They had to come. They had to...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There may be more to this from other characters' points of view, this comic left me with a lot of emotions.


	2. Bruce

_"Robin out."_

Bruce threw off the covers and rolled out of his bed as the last thing Tim had said to him echoed through his mind. His body needed rest, his limbs ached and his eyes burned, but there was no chance he could sleep now.

_"Robin out."_

Tim had always insisted he wasn't a Robin. He had claimed the name Red Robin and worn it with pride, leaving their partnership to forge his own path. But to Bruce, Tim Drake was always a Robin. He was always his son.

Bruce turned and walked out of his room, unable to stand still. _My son._ That brave young man who gave willingly gave up his life to save 600 others. He reached the stairs and descended them slowly. How many times had Tim slid down this bannister? Bruce stepped off the last step and peered around the room. This was where Tim used to do any research that he didn't need the bat computer for. Bruce thought back to the countless times he had fallen asleep on the couch, laptop still in front of him. Fighting against tears, he turned away. His wonderful son. He didn't even have a body to bury. All he had left was his bo-staff, which Bruce had yet to bring himself to clean. Soon he would have to erect a new case in the Batcave. Another child, another empty uniform. As he crossed the threshold into the kitchen, Bruce saw, clear as day, Tim seated at the counter on the morning of his first day at the manor. He stared, frozen, until the image cleared, leaving nothing but an empty chair at an empty table.

_"Robin out."_

Tim's words echoed once more through Bruce's mind, and he felt the dam break inside him. He clutched at the doorframe as he finally bent his head and wept, crying tears for the son he would never see again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is a little rushed, I wanted to get it out before the new Batman issue could invalidate anything. So yet again I've banged this out at 1 in the morning with no editing. This is how I think the beginning of Bruce's grieving should be. It's not likely to happen anything near this.  
> Also, if I write anything in the future about Tim, I will be using his preboot backstory. The new 52 one is kind of important in this case though.


	3. Stephanie

After Bruce left, sliding the window shut against the rain, Steph remained where she was, staring at the wrinkled letter on the ground. What was it Tim had said about about the Ivy Program? _I'd be able to do so much good. Not just for Gotham, but for the world_. He always had such big plans, such hope for the world. All he ever wanted to do was help. She moved backwards, knees buckling as they collided with the edge of her bed.

"Why?" She asked out loud. "Why did it have to be like that? Why -" she broke off, choking back a sob. _Why did you have to go?_ She thought as she curled up on top of her covers. She remained like that, knees folded to her chest, the night's events replaying in her mind, until she finally fell asleep. Even when lightning crashed across the sky, she did not stir.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is shorter than I expected, but I'm used to dealing with a more positive Steph. Also I managed to write this one before one in the morning, so yay.


	4. Dick and Damian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is very heavily influenced by CrimeAlley1048's fic 940, because I read it a few days before writing this and a lot bled over without me realizing. She's super great though, I highly recommend reading her stuff if you like the batfam!

Dick was surprised to find a small person shaped lump on his couch when he got up in the morning.

"Damian?" He asked, lifting the blanket and peering underneath. "What are you doing here?"

Damian lifted his head and glared. "You need to update your security," He mumbled, grabbing at at the blanket and trying to pull it back down over himself. Dick rolled his eyes and pulled the blanket all the way off.

"Seriously Dami, why aren't you at the manor?" Damian stared at Dick for a moment before choosing instead to glower at the edge of the carpet. "Okay then," Dick said, letting the subject drop for the moment, "since you're here, do you want to help with breakfast?" Damian nodded and got up, following Dick over to the kitchen. Dick got out a bowl and cereal, watching as Damian began rummaging through his fridge, pulling out the ingredients he was looking for. Dick hadn't heard from Damian in the three days since Ti-- since the drone attack. Damian and Tim had never been particularly close, but they had finally begun to get along recently, both sides developing at the very least a grudging respect for each other. Not that that made any difference now.

Damian sat down in the chair next to him, pulling him out of his thoughts. Dick looked at him for a moment. "So, I'm asking again because I'm curious, and you don't need to answer if you don't want to. Why did you come over last night?"

Damian poked at his eggs, seeming to consider the question. Dick was about to give up and change the subject when Damian finally spoke. "Father is setting up a new case in the cave," he said quietly. "He started at 1:30 in the morning." Oh. Dick closed his eyes for a moment, wondering why Bruce always felt the need to torture himself with his grief. "He's not even using the right uniform." Dick looked at him questioningly. "He's using the old one, the one with the stupid wings." He explained.

"Well, he did wear that one for a while-"

"And it's not like it even matters, it's not like he's really gone or anything."  
Dick paused. What did he mean by that? "Dami," he said gently, "Tim... Tim is dead." God, it broke his heart to say it out loud. "He died in the drone attack."

Damian looked at him like he was an idiot. "Of course he did. But he'll be back." When Dick continued to stare at him, he began to look a little panicked. "He'll be back! He has to be. That's what- that's what happens!" He stood up suddenly, striding over to the sink and dumping his plate in, letting it clatter loudly. He spun back around to face Dick, and now there were tears in his eyes. "Jason came back, I came back, Father came back, we all even thought you were dead and then you came back!" Dick winced at the words, suddenly at a loss for what do say. _Don't you realize how much I want this all to be a lie?_ He wanted to shout. _How much I would give for my little brother to be alive somewhere?_ Instead, he reached out towards Damian, trying to think of something he could say to try to make Damian understand. This time, there wasn't even a body left...  
Damian pulled away, betrayal written across his face. "I thought you would believe me, Grayson." Without another word, he turned and rushed to the front door, slamming it behind him hard enough that it seemed to shake the whole room. Dick stared at the door long after Damian had left, feeling as though his heart had been ripped open all over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the last one I'm doing for this, unless anyone has a character they really want to see. If so please comment and I'll try to write them. Again, this entire thing is pretty much unedited, so I apologize for any mistakes. Also, I have no idea where Dick is living right now or what his living quarters are like, so I apologize for any errors about that too.


	5. Bruce

Batwoman's voice rang in Bruce's ear as he drove through the rain. "We trained Spoiler for this. You and I can't be everywhere. The monsters. The hurricane. We knew this could grow out of our control."

He gritted his teeth as he made a particularly sharp turn. "I refuse to accept that scenario," he gritted out.

Kate sounded exasperated. "Trust Spoiler, Bruce. She's there so we don't have to be."

Bruce knew that Stephanie should be able to hold her own in the caves, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something horrible was going to happen if he wasn't there. She was the same age as Tim, with significantly less training than he had received. How would she handle it if things turned south? And Cassandra was there too. Bruce wasn't sure he had ever met someone with a bigger heart. What if he lost both of them in the same night? But as he looked up at the now four headed monster, he knew he had to stay. As much as it pained him, Spoiler and Orphan would have to fend for themselves.

"Is Blackgate clear?" He heard Kate shout over the comms, "Nightwing? Is no one reading?" Bruce suddenly felt as though he'd been doused in ice water. No contact with Dick either? He raced around the legs of the monster, the monster that was keeping him from his children, and decided he would get to them. Whatever it took, he was not loosing another the way he lost Tim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I thought I was done but I'm not. I'm going to keep writing them whenever I see a Tim related reaction in the comics. Oh well, we'll see how long this goes.


	6. Duke

Bruce had told him repeatedly to stay in the cave. Oh well.

"Sometimes Bruce, you just don't know when you need help," Duke grumbled to himself. Why had the man even given him the suit if he wasn't allowed to use it? At least Alfred had been on his side, readying the Batplane and making sure the injector gun would work. _This whole operation would have gone so much easier with Red Robin_ , Duke thought. He would have been able to figure out the substance that was driving the monsters in half the time it had taken Duke and Alfred.

The butler's voice buzzed in his ear. "You will reach the drop point in sixty seconds, Mr. Thomas. Be ready."

"Yeah, thanks Alfred," Duke replied, staring down at the city as his thoughts returned to Tim Drake. Duke hadn't gotten the chance to get to know him, to actually figure out who he was behind the mask. He couldn't tell if he was imagining it or not, but ever since he joined Alfred in the cave he had felt a growing pressure to measure up to Batman's former partner. The feeling had increased after Tim's death, except that now Batman seemed determined to keep him in the cave and out of action. As the Batplane approached Batman's location, Duke gripped his weapon and grinned. _Well, there's not much you can do about it now, Bruce._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got around to reading batman #8. I'm planning on reading Nightwing tomorrow and hopefully I'll get another chapter from that. Woo! This whole thing has gone a lot longer than I expected!


	7. Epilogue: Bruce

_Alive. Tim was alive._

Bruce knelt in front of the blackened circle where Ascalon had been a moment before, the same words echoing repeatedly in his mind.

_He's alive._

He felt the clawed hand of Azrael's suit on his shoulder, but he didn't glance up, his gaze remaining fixed on the smoking patch of ground in front of him.

_Alive._

After what seemed like an eternity, Bruce finally rose to his feet. Wordlessly, he turned from his team and began to walk away, plans already churning in his head. His son was alive. He had work to do.


End file.
